Believe it or not: III. Further analyses on predictors of paranormal belief

Abstract

The aim of this study was to conduct two multiple regression analyses to determine possible underlying predictors of paranormal belief (PB), which was measured using Thalbourne’s (1995) Rasch-scaled Australian Sheep-Goat Scale (RASGS), and the Basic Limiting Principles Questionnaire (BLPQ; Thalbourne, 2010) which was Rasch-scaled (i.e., RBLPQ) specifically for this study. In our first study (Billows & Storm, 2015a), mean scores on PB (both measures) were significantly higher for females compared to males; both measures correlated significantly and positively with conceivability (imagination), but not with depression or locus of control. In our second study (Billows & Storm, 2015b), PB (both measures) correlated positively and significantly with religiosity, and negatively with reasoning (not significantly) as hypothesized, but the non-significant correlation with reactance was positive, which was not in the hypothesized direction. PB varied significantly between religions, but not between income and education levels. In the present study, two multiple regression analyses (with RASGS and RBLPQ as criterion variables) revealed that religiosity was the strongest predictor of PB—the other predictors being conceivability, gender, religion, and income. Age was also a predictor, but only in the model with RASGS as the criterion variable. This research has made some new contributions to the literature on paranormal belief.